Asia Garment Hub Supplier Meet-Up: Imagining the Opportunities - Could a Manufacturer Collective Help Drive Meaningful Transformation?

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“I realized that there is no such thing as one sustainable business, no matter how good the practices were within my company, no matter if I composted and recycled and bought from farmers and used renewable energy and so on ... I had to go outside of my own company and start working in cooperation with others, and particularly, with my competitors, to build a whole system based on those values.”

    -Judy Wicks, Founder of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (quoted here).

What’s being discussed?
The goal of this session is to explore whether participants think that, in principle, collective manufacturer action would be a useful way to drive transformation of the fashion industry.

Participants will be asked to reflect on:

• What are the things you want to do transform the way you make clothes, but for various
  reasons, cannot? Could collective manufacturer action change this picture?
• What are the things you are already doing to transform the way you make clothes, but for
  various reasons, might not be recognized, understood, or valued by the broader sustainable
  fashion community? Could collective manufacturer action change this picture?
• What are the things you still want to learn or better understand? Could collaborating with other
  manufacturers address this gap?

If there is consensus that manufacturer collaboration would in principle be useful, future meet-ups will
explore potential barriers and models.

What are Supplier Meet-Ups? Informal and unrecorded session open exclusively to suppliers (any tier),
held monthly on the first Thursday of every month. The meet-ups are discussion focused and intended
to facilitate connection between suppliers. Each month a relevant speaker is invited to kick-start the
conversation and moderated by Kim van der Weerd.

Supplier Meet-Ups are hosted by the Asia Garment Hub, a digital one-stop shop tailored to the garment
and textiles sector in Asia. The Asia Garment Hub is a joint initiative of the GIZ’s regional project FABRIC
and the ILO’s Decent Work in Garment Supply Chains Asia project.
Please note: Because supplier meet-ups are discussion focused, participants will be expected to have
video ON.